


Shower Power

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-04-13
Updated: 1999-04-13
Packaged: 2018-11-10 05:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: Frannie and Kowalski are getting ready for a road trip when something unexpected happens. This story is a sequel toDance Lesson.





	Shower Power

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Cohabitation 3: Shower Power  


## Cohabitation 3: Shower Power

  
by  
Adia

"Turns out Fraser was just dancin' with Turnbull to practice. I  
guess  
they really got into it. You know those Mounties." Stan  
gave a wide-eyed  
look to Frannie standing next to him, "Guess  
he was still tryin' to keep  
it a surprise for the Ice Queen."  
Frannie took another bite of her hot-dog, "So how'd The Ball go?"  
"Don't know. Fraser got home real late last night, I was already  
asleep." Stan shrugged and balled up his tin foil hot-dog wrapper.  
As  
they passed a trash can he tossed the wrapper into it and got  
his keys  
out. Just one more block and they'd be back to his apartment.  
Frannie had come over earlier that morning and dropped off all her  
luggage in the GTO then they'd gotten hot-dogs from a street vendor  
for  
breakfast. Considering their behavior at the beginning of the  
week Welsh  
had been all too eager to give them Friday off. He was  
the only one at  
the station who had any idea of what was going on  
between them though he  
never mentioned it out loud. Of course they  
covered with the story that  
they had a funeral to go to in New York.  
A long lost Italian Aunt that  
only Frannie and Ray (now Stan) were  
close to. Convenient.  
They rode up together in the elevator and slipped into his apartment.  
Fraser was gone, surprisingly. Then Stan remembered Fraser mentioning  
something to him about going this morning and getting Dief from  
that  
obedience school thing. Francesca plopped down on the sofa  
and crossed  
her legs. Stan mumbled to himself. Something about thanking  
God for  
creating mini-skirts, "I'm gonna go take a shower then  
we can hit the  
road."  
"Don't drowned yourself there bro." Frannie tossed a much-missed  
snippy  
remark at him.  
Kowalski pulled his shirt off over his head and closed the bathroom door  
after remarking, "Yer a laugh riot, Vecchio." He had taken  
lately to  
calling her by her last name for fun since their last  
names now  
currently matched.  
Frannie set her feet up on the coffee table and listened as the water  
started running in the other room. Wondering just what he might  
do if  
she decided to join him. Shaking her head as if to shake the  
thought out  
of her mind she noticed the little jar of turtle feed.  
She snatched it  
up and sprinkled some out into her hand. Getting  
up and heading for the  
turtle she passed by the bathroom. Coming  
from inside she could hear  
Stan's voice. To her amazement he was  
singing. At first the words were  
intangible, probably muffled by  
all the steam of the shower but the  
longer she listened the more  
she heard. With her ear pressed firmly to  
the door she heard Stan  
sing, "Tell me why, I love you like I do. Tell  
me who, can  
start my heart as much as you..."  
For a moment she lifted her ear from the door, "Where have I heard  
that  
before?" Her question didn't last long before she placed  
her ear to the  
door again and heard Stanley's upbeat voice.  
"Tell me all your secrets and I'll tell you most of mine..."  
Obviously  
this singing in the shower was something he did often.  
Since he seemed  
so comfortable with it.  
A few more words were muffled before she heard, "I don't have the  
answers. I don't have a plan. All I have is you so darlin' help  
my  
understand..." Francesca stood by the door cautiously. Enjoying  
every  
second of it. It seemed so exhilarating at the moment. The  
thought that  
she was getting a glimpse of Stan's personal life.  
What he was really  
like.  
She wasn't sure weather it was the air and the door muffling him or more  
just Stan mumbling because he didn't know the rest of the words,  
"You  
can whisper in my ear..."  
Finally when the chorus came Stanley chimed loudly, "Let's take  
eachother's hand as we jump into the final frontier. Mad about you  
baby,  
I'm mad about you, oh yeah, I'm mad about yooou!" Frannie  
couldn't help  
the grin that spread across her face. She was about  
to laugh when she  
heard the door knob turn. She jumped back away  
from the door afraid it  
might be Stan but realized too late that  
the water was still running.  
Soon enough she saw the front door  
open.  
A fluffy white wolf came running in, tearing through the apartment and  
jumping up onto the cushiony couch. After pawing around for a split  
second Deif settled in and rested his head on his paws. The big  
red  
Mountie followed Deif.  
Frannie whirled around quickly and sprinkled the turtle food into the  
turtles tank. Brushing her hands together and smiling nervously,  
"Hi  
Frase."  
"Good morning Francesca." Fraser gave her a faint nod and shut  
the door.  
Seeming to be not interested in the least about why she  
was there. He  
looked almost sad.  
"What's wrong Frase?" Frannie sat back down on the couch next  
to Deif.  
Fraser bowed his head, "Nothing Francesca."  
She persisted, "No, there's something wrong. I know it. There has  
to  
something wrong."  
"It's of no importance." Fraser kept his knees locked.  
Frannie eyed him curiously. What in the world could possibly have caused  
Fraser's gloominess. He hasn't been this depressed since Vecchio  
left.  
She motioned her hand to the chair sitting to the right of  
the couch,  
"Have a seat Frase. You can talk to me about it."  
Fraser sat down in the chair stiffly. He shook his head and scratched  
the area just above his eyebrow. After a long pause he finally set  
his  
Stetson on the coffee table and sighed. Knowing Francesca wasn't  
going  
to let this go anytime soon, "I'm not feeling well."  
"How'd it go last night?" Frannie tried to cover her concern  
by busying  
herself with pushing back the cuticles on her long nails.  
"Well. Last night went very well." He nodded and looked away.  
"Then what's got you so down." Francesca avoided eye contact.  
It seemed  
easier for him to talk when she wasn't looking him in  
the eye. It seemed  
to put him at ease, the less you push the more  
he lets you in.  
There was a long silence. Finally his lips moved  
and his voice filled  
with a rich sadness. A heaviness when he whispered,  
"I'm just... well...  
I'm feeling very... lonely." Fraser  
had almost choked out the words.  
In an instant Frannie's eyes lifted  
off her distraction and straight to  
him. Those big blue eyes filled  
with such sorrow made tears burn behind  
her eyes.  
Her eyes were on his when he said, "Things went well last night  
with the  
Inspector. But it was afterwards when I came back here  
that I realized I  
was alone. And I realized how much I miss having  
someone with me.  
Standing beside me. Supporting me. I miss the way  
things used to be."  
Suddenly Fraser broke eye contact and stared  
away into the distance.  
Before Frannie could react he blurted, "I'm  
very sorry Francesca. I  
shouldn't be going on like this. Please  
forgive me."  
It was then that she felt her heart leap forward from her chest. She  
knew things obviously weren't the same for Fraser as they once had  
been.  
But she had no idea it was causing him so much pain. Such  
anguish.  
Causing him to bury his feelings internally. Frannie herself  
had always  
been such a verbal processor. Her whole family had been.  
It was  
difficult for her to comprehend what strength it would take  
to keep such  
feelings buried deep inside. His apology only made  
her more concerned.  
The way he spoke, "I shouldn't be telling  
you this."  
"No, Fraser, you should. You have to tell someone.  
I know it's hard when  
you don't have anyone to talk to." Though  
with her large family she  
didn't know exactly how hard it was to  
have no one to converse with, but  
she knew the feeling of having  
to keep a secret. It was hard not being  
able to share with anyone  
the way she feels about Kowalski. It was a  
good thing they had finally  
gotten together because if they hadn't  
Frannie wasn't sure how much  
longer she could have kept her feelings to  
herself and that would  
have been deathly destructive. Keeping a secret  
this way, sharing  
it only with the one she loves, made it seem much more  
fun. More  
exciting. Still, she continued her attempt to help Fraser,  
"You  
know you can talk to me. I can understand how hard it's been for  
you since he left."  
Fraser leaned down setting his elbows on his knees the dropped his head  
into his hands. Helplessly. It was starting to puzzle Frannie as  
to why  
he didn't seem to want to know why she was there. So she  
decided to  
offer up an excuse before he started asking. Plus, she  
felt terribly  
sorry for him, "Um.. you know Frase, the reason  
I'm here is that Ray and  
I are going to New York. We've got a funeral  
of an aunt or something  
like that." She waved her hand dismissively  
and leaned forward to place  
a hand on Fraser's knee, "You can  
join us if you'd like. Maybe it will  
help you not feel so lonely."  
Fraser lifted his head up, "Oh, thank you Francesca, but I couldn't  
possibly."  
"Yes, you could. You're coming with us. Period. End of discussion."  
Frannie made up her mind, moved up off the couch and headed back  
towards  
the kitchen.  
He let out a sigh, then looked up to her, "Francesca?"  
"Mm-hmm?" She grabbed a jar of instant tea out of the tall  
cupboard. Her  
shirt riding up as she stretched to reach the jar.  
The disadvantages of  
being not so tall.  
"Francesca?" He repeated, obviously he wanted her undivided  
attention.  
Once she'd fetched the jar she turned to him and set  
the jar on the  
counter, "Yes, Fraser?"  
He smiled at her warmly, "Thank you kindly, Francesca."  
Those words brought a soft smile to her face and for a split second her  
heart fluttered but it quickly passed, "You're very welcome."  
She  
whispered and turned back to making tea. There had been a time  
when  
Fraser doing something like that, or even paying attention  
to her for  
that matter, would have made her practically faint. But  
there were  
things that happened. Things she had learned to accept.  
That Fraser  
could never be hers. Not the way she wanted him. Which  
was fine. It  
didn't even matter one bit to her now. She knew she  
couldn't change  
Fraser and she didn't want to. She was in love with  
Stan and that was  
all she wanted. He was someone she didn't need  
to change. Someone she  
didn't want to change. Someone she could  
love just the way he was. And  
she did. Incomparably.  
Fraser sat back down and Deif whined, "What's wrong boy?"  
Deif whined again and it dawned on Fraser, "Ah, yes. I'll go get  
that  
right now." The man who ran the obedience school had suggested  
to Fraser  
that he treat Deif more often because he was a very good  
wolf, very well  
disciplined but that treating him with junk food  
wasn't a good idea. The  
snacks Deif was used to stealing would one  
day catch up to him, as it  
does with humans, so it would be better  
for Dief to be rewarded for his  
good work by healthy snacks made  
specifically for dogs.  
Momentarily Francesca turned around and mumbled, "Huh?" Then  
turned back  
to the stove. Thinking Fraser might have been saying  
something to her.  
Her thoughts far away from where she was boiling  
water for tea.  
Fraser remembered reading the label of the jar of  
dog treats. It  
recommended keeping them in a cool dry place. He  
couldn't think of a  
better place to keep them appropriately than  
in the bathroom medicine  
cabinet. Fraser rose out of his chair to  
go retrieve them.  
Soon the water was steaming and Frannie was pouring it into three mugs.  
Two with instant coffee and one with a packet of what she hoped  
was  
Fraser's favorite "bark" tea. Then the moment she  
set the mugs on the  
coffee table she heard it.  
The loud high pitched scream. Two voices. Yelling wordlessly. Just two,  
"Aaaaah!"'s coming for the bathroom. Then it dawned on  
her. She realized  
that Fraser had left the room and entered the  
bathroom where Stanley was  
showering. She moved her head so that  
her ear was pointed in the  
direction of the bathroom, once the screaming  
finished she distinctly  
noticed that the water was shut off. That  
left her knowing there was a  
pretty good chance that Stanley had  
been just stepping out of the shower  
as Fraser had entered the room.  
She fought to suppress giggles that bubbled up inside. It was too funny  
to resist. Laughter burst from her as she cautiously stepped closer  
to  
the door. Without hesitation the door swung open wildly and Kowalski  
burst through, stomped to his bedroom with a towel around his waist  
and  
threw the door shut behind him. A tad bit pissed.  
Soon enough Fraser slowly retreated from the bathroom holding the can  
of  
dog snacks in his hand. His eyes were glued to the ground and  
his cheeks  
were red, "I didn't see a thing." He slowly  
approached the door to  
Stan's room and whispered through it, "I  
really didn't see anything,  
Ray. I'm very sorry. I didn't know you  
were in there."  
There was a long silence before Fraser moved back to the living room.  
Frannie was now sitting on the couch next to Deif. Calmly trying  
to keep  
a straight face, "Sorry Frase, I should have warned  
you."  
They both sipped their drinks in silence and Fraser tossed  
a treat to  
Deif who was happily resting on the soft cushions of  
the couch. Before  
long Stanley emerge, fully clothed, from his room.  
Fraser kept his eyes  
glued to the ground. Kowalski had dressed in  
a long sleeved blue  
sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. His blond hair  
standing on end. Spiky  
not just from the water but from the events  
of the last ten minutes. He  
sat next to Frannie and folded one of  
his arms across his chest as he  
drank a long sip of coffee.  
Silence filled the room but Fraser quickly broke it, "I'm sorry  
Ray."  
"'S okay." Stan nodded dismissively and held  
onto his coffee cup tightly  
with both hands now.  
Frannie grinned broadly. Almost having to bite her lips from remarking  
about how envious she was of Fraser getting to see Kowalski nude  
and  
all. Once again, Fraser was a lucky man according to Frannie.  
After many  
moments had passed in silence Fraser stood up, "Thank  
you kindly for the  
tea, Francesca. If it wouldn't be too much trouble  
would it be all right  
if I went back to the Consulate momentarily  
to gather my things? This  
trip to the umm..." he searched for  
the word, "Big Apple," he whispered  
unsurely but then  
continued his sentence in complete self-confidence,  
"sounds  
very exciting. I can't wait." With Frannie's quick nod Fraser  
placed his Stetson on his head and left the apartment Dief following  
close behind. He hadn't even noticed Francesca's hand on Stanley's  
knee  
trying to calm him as Fraser gave word of his decision to join  
them for  
the weekend.  
After the door was shut Frannie slowly turned back to Stan, "You  
are so  
cute..." she slathered on the compliments and flirts  
hoping to help  
soften the blow. She softly lowered her lips and  
pressed them to his.  
Her attempt was in vain. Just after she broke  
away he gave her an  
unhappy look, "Frannie?"  
Coyly she sang, "Whaaatie?"  
"Tell me what Fraser was saying was just one of his delusions. Tell  
me  
you didn't invite him." Stanley set his coffee down and  
raised an  
eyebrow.  
Francesca scooted around on the couch and leaned her back against his  
chest. She turned her head to look out the window, "Beautiful  
day isn't  
it?"  
"Frannie..."  
She moved her neck to look up into his eyes then batted her eyelashes.  
She could clearly see it wasn't working and it wasn't going to work.  
She  
sighed heavily then sat back up to face him, "Fine. I invited  
him. Is it  
really that horrible?"  
Stan looked at her blankly, "After how 'aquatinted' Fraser and I  
got  
while I stepped out of the shower, I'd have to say yes Frannie.  
Yes,  
this is going to be bad. Bad, bad, bad, nothing but bad."  
"Raaayyy." She whined out his name, "He's lonely! He needs  
friends right  
now, okay? I couldn't stand to watch him like that.  
He's so sad. We  
couldn't just leave him here all alone all weekend  
long, could we?" She  
commanded it as more of a demanding statement  
rather than a question.  
Kowalski arched an eyebrow as a challenge.  
Slowly he gave in with an  
exhausted sigh as though he had been in  
a sever battle of wills with  
Frannie, which was not too far from  
the truth, "Okay. Fine, he can come  
with us."  
Frannie smiled brightly and threw her arms around Stanley knocking him  
back on the couch, "Thank you!" She moved over slightly  
to lay on top of  
him, completely covering him. She ran her hands  
beneath him and slid  
them under his shirt. The cool clean skin on  
his back making her fingers  
search along for more. Her eyes glittering,  
"I'll make it up to you,"  
she kissed the soft area just  
below his ear lightly, "I promise."  
He wrapped his arms  
around Francesca as they lay there in the middle of  
his empty apartment,  
just the two of them, and he closed his eyes. A  
slow warm smile  
spread across Stanley's face, "I'm looking forward to it  
already."

The End  
(~MDK~)  
November 1998  
Disclaimer: Them there characters I be usin' in my here storay belong  
to  
them folk there at Alliance and whateva uther compnies that own  
them  
there characters and no copyright infringement was meant to  
Paul Riser  
(or anyone else who owns Mad About You) by using the theme  
song.


End file.
